The National Communications Officer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Sammy Gyamfi, has disclosed that the party has more damning evidence of out-of-court interactions between the Attorney-General (A-G) and an accused person in a high-profile financial crimes trial.
A-G Godfred Dame and Richard Jakpa, the third accused person in the ambulance purchase trial were captured in an audio published earlier this week by the NDC, as evidence of the A-G’s unethical conduct.
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has defended the A-G, describing the NDC’s 16-minute audio as fake and pieced together.
Sammy Gyamfi insists that the NPP are taking Ghanaians for fools with their flip-flops on the tape.
Speaking on the Thursday, May 30, 2024 edition of Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana programme, he gave details of the audio, which was a telephone call between the two persons (Dame and Japka).
He spoke about the date and time it was recorded while confirming that the recording was done by Jakpa.
Gyamfi also disclaimed the A-G spokesperson’s claim that Dame met Jakpa without his lawyer because at the time of the meeting, the accused did not have a substantive lawyer.
He gave the following new details about the tape:
a. It was recorded on April 9, 2024.
b. The call was placed by A-G Dame to Jakpa, hours before the accused was to appear in court.
c. The call was placed at 7:12 am and lasted for 26 minutes in total.
Regarding Jakpa not having legal representation during their conversation, Gyamfi emphasized that the available records indicated Jakpa had engaged the services of Thaddeus Sory at the time. He stressed that even if Dame had approached him regarding plea bargain matters, it should have been done through legal counsel.
In the meantime, Jakpa has filed an application with the Accra High Court, urging for the dismissal of the charges brought against him by the state or a halt to the proceedings, citing the conduct of the Attorney-General.
What Sammy Gyamfi said:
The Attorney-General deceived, akin to a thief caught unaware of the evidence against them, confessing prematurely.
We informed them of our evidence, so they anticipated a tape, assuming it would implicate them in the Supreme Court judge’s residence, featuring Jakpa and the Attorney-General, hence their preemptive action.
Therefore, we resolved to outsmart them, withholding that particular tape deliberately, as we possess many more. Their subsequent actions contradicted their initial deceit, assuming everyone to be naive.
We held our press conference, presenting evidence of a recorded phone conversation initiated by the Attorney-General himself.
On April 9, 2024, he made a call at 7:12 am to Mr. Jakpa, the same day Jakpa was scheduled to testify in court.
Some claim Jakpa lacked legal representation, but that’s inaccurate; he was represented by Thaddeus Sory. Yet, the Attorney-General conversed with him for 26 minutes, a conversation Jakpa recorded when it veered into criminal territory, which we have made public.